NEWS FLASH

Washington House Committee Advances Marriage Equality | Washington state’s House Judiciary Committee advanced marriage equality legislation in a vote of 7 to 5 this morning. The bill passed 28-21 in the state Senate on Wednesday and will likely move to the House floor in a matter of days. Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) has pledged to sign the measure, but opponents are already gathering signatures to place the question on the ballot. During today’s public hearings on the bill, they warned that same-sex marriage will lead to incest, boy-man love, polygamy and even Sharia law.

If the marriage bill becomes law, it “would take effect 90 days after the end of the regular legislative session. That would make June 7 the earliest date gay couples could marry here. It also means opponents would have until June 6 to collect 120,577 signatures to put a referendum on the November ballot.” Should they succeed, “the law would be suspended and the referendum would be put on the ballot, leaving voters to decide by a simple majority whether the law is thrown out or Washington becomes the seventh state to allow gays to marry.”